Addie (film)
Addie is an upcoming American 3D computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by Universal Animation Studios and Sony Pictures Animation as their first collaborative project. It is being written and directed by Jim Anderson (in his directorial debut) and co-written by Mike Reiss, Seth Grahame-Smith, Alec Sokolow, and Joel Cohen, and will star the voice of Tati Gabrielle as the titular role, along with Josh Peck, Katherine Heigl, Steve Zahn, Bobby Cannavale, Stanley Tucci, Meek Mill, DeRay Davis, and Klay Thompson. Although the film features Addie McCallister, who originally appeared in Sony's 2017 animated film The Emoji Movie, as the main character and serves as a spin-off from that film, Addie will have no connection to The Emoji Movie, meaning that this film will take place in a separate universe outside of it; otherwise, Addie is often a stand-alone film and unrelated to The Emoji Movie, due to said film's negative reception. Also, none of the other characters from The Emoji Movie will appear in this film, making Addie McCallister the only character from the film to appear. Addie is scheduled to be released in the United States on February 15, 2019 by Universal Pictures in North America and by Columbia Pictures in international territories. Plot In order to train to become a top adventurer, Addie McCallister signs up to the Adventure Academy, where she sets off on a mission via another dimension to rescue several creatures that were lost or abandoned. Soon, Addie finds that there is a sinister plot occurring at the academy that only she can stop. Cast *Tati Gabrielle as Addie McCallister, an optimistic and kind teenage girl who joins the Adventure Academy. She previously appeared in The Emoji Movie as a minor character. *Josh Peck as Harold Penn, a rookie adventurer who helps Addie on her journey. *Katherine Heigl as Abigail K. Slickersen, the founder of the Adventure Academy. *Steve Zahn *Bobby Cannavale *Stanley Tucci *Meek Mill *DeRay Davis *Klay Thompson *Minnie Driver *John C. Reilly *Charlie Day *Sam Elliott Production Development Based on a concept by Gingo Animation veteran Jim Anderson, Addie originally began production at Gingo in 2013 under the title Adventure Academy, but was cancelled due to creative differences. However, in November 2017, it was revived and announced by Universal Animation Studios and Sony Pictures Animation under the new title Addie, featuring Addie McCallister from Sony's The Emoji Movie, a computer-animated film based on emojis, as the main protagonist of the film. Anderson will direct the film with the screenplay written by himself, Mike Reiss, Seth Grahame-Smith, Alec Sokolow, and Joel Cohen, while Henri Dosclz would produce. Universal will distribute the film in North America and Sony Pictures Releasing will distribute the film internationally via Columbia Pictures. The film remains a separate continuity to The Emoji Movie due to Universal's hopes that the film will be an improvement over it. When Universal Animation saw the trailers of The Emoji Movie, before it came out, they disliked and criticized the film and its story and characters, with the exception of Addie McCallister, whom Universal Animation found as the "only decent character" in the film due to her characteristics; Universal Animation president David Stainton described the character as "a younger cartoon version of Mono from Shadow of the Colossus". Because of this, Universal had expressed interest in making a stand-alone animated film starring Addie McCallister unrelated to The Emoji Movie in co-production with Sony, which sparked media speculation that Universal could use the Addie McCallister character for other media by its Gingo division, much akin to Hiro Hamada from Big Hero 6, which Universal acquired the license from The Walt Disney Company. Casting Alongside the film's initial announcement, it was confirmed that Tati Gabrielle would reprise her role as Addie. In April 2018, it was announced that Josh Peck, Katherine Heigl, Steve Zahn, Bobby Cannavale, Stanley Tucci, Minnie Driver, John C. Reilly, Charlie Day, and Sam Elliott had joined the film's voice cast. On June 21, 2018, it was announced that rapper Meek Mill had joined the cast. The film will mark Mill's first voice-acting role as well as first ever acting role in general. On June 23, 2018, comedian DeRay Davis and basketball player Klay Thompson were added to the cast after an announcement via Sony’s Instagram. Animation The film's animation is being provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, who also provided animation for The Emoji Movie and other Sony animated films, as well as Universal Animation's Luna & Zak, Evolupia and Cool Spot. Music On June 13, 2018, it was announced that Lorne Balfe will compose the score for the film. Release Addie is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2019, by Columbia Pictures, and the United States on February 15, 2019, by Universal Pictures, in IMAX and 3D. Marketing At the Universal Animation presentation at CinemaCon 2018, "unfinished and unseen footage" was seen, revealing that the film will focus on Addie McCallister going on a journey. The first trailer was released via Universal's YouTube channel on June 12, 2018. Anderson mentioned in April 2018 that the film will be accompanied by a video game inspired by Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. The game, titled Addie: A Journey in Paradise, will be released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows on February 15, 2019. Trailer response The film's first trailer has received a mixed to positive reception from critics, with many of whom said that the film is better than The Emoji Movie and praised the storytelling and animation, but some criticized its recycled minor character from The Emoji Movie as the protagonist of the film. Future In April 2018, director Jim Anderson stated that there were ideas for a planned Addie franchise. Universal also stated that they would use the character Addie McCallister for various productions by its Gingo Animation unit. Transcripts Main To see the main transcript of the film, click here. Trailers To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here. Category:Films Category:2019 Category:2010s Category:Addie Category:Upcoming films Category:Sony Pictures Animation films Category:Columbia Pictures films Category:Columbia Pictures animated films Category:Universal Pictures animated films Category:Universal Animation Studios animated films Category:Spin-offs Category:Spin-off films